Winemaker Notes
The 2019 Los Carneros Chardonnay displays great fruit freshness, intensity and elegance. This wines focus is primarily on aromatics, and our winemaking techniques are intended to retain the characteristic Carneros aromatic notes of lemon-citrus and white blossom, while enhancing the minerality and bright, vibrant fruit flavors of citrus and stone fruit in the wine. Partial barrel and malolactic fermentation, combined with lees stirring, produces a wine with added layers of complexity, imparting hints of Meyer lemon, nectarine and lemongrass.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Sliced apples, apricots, peaches and cream on the nose. Some salted butter and vanilla, too. It’s medium-to full-bodied with a creamy, supple palate. Smooth and pretty.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
Known for elegant wines that combine power and finesse, Carneros is set in the rolling hills that straddle the southernmost parts of both Sonoma and Napa counties. The cooling winds from the abutting San Pablo Bay, combined with lots of midday California sunshine, create an ideal environment for producing wines with a perfect balance of crisp acidity and well-ripened fruit.
This cooler pocket of California lends itself to growing Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah. Carneros is an important source of sparkling wines made in the style of Champagne as well.